October Ends

Why does October go so quickly? Most of the leaves have fallen to the ground and we got our first freeze. I found the time and energy to get out to the woods a couple of times this weekend and hope to get out again today. I startled a large buck on my Friday afternoon walk. On Saturday Mowgli found a fast running doe while exploring in the woods while I walked with Ashley in Marshalltown. There are always beautiful surprises in the woods. I love the color and crisp air of October and it looks like November should have a good start also.

Purple Cowl Knitting

While Jill and I were doing our photo shoot she agreed to model for me. I had finished my purple cowl the evening before while we knitted together. It was meant to be a mobius but since my twist didn't work, I guess it's a cowl. I though the red one that I made was a little long for warmth in the very cold weather so I wanted to make one that was shorter.

Jill was a good sport showing the versatility of my new project. I am sure that it will get cold enough to want to pull it up over my face but it can be worn several different ways. I may need to find a bigger project soon because I have been knitting lots lately and do not need many more mobius' or cowls.

Senior Shoot

Jake came outside to ask what we were doing and we told him that we were doing a "Senior Citizen Photo Shoot." Actually we were doing a knitting photo shoot! I had my camera in Mason City for the Mohawk game and offered to photograph some of Jill's knitting projects to post on Ravelry.com. Jill knitted this sweater! Amazing, isn't it?

Mason City Go Go Go

Last weekend I drove to Mason City to watch Jake play football. I love seeing Jake play sports and always love hanging out with Dan and Jill but part of the draw was to attend the game and Mohawk Field and get to sing the school song. Jake played very well. Although the Mohawks lost, the bigger disappointment was that nobody sang the school song! They played the taped music but the cheerleaders didn't even sing! I sang...all by myself. I bet my brother loved that!

The weather was perfect and Jake did well but the best surprise was that Gene, Dan and Jill's brother-in-law was there too! He was in town from Texas and came to the game and dinner with us. It was like being back in the eighties when we all hung out together lots. We missed Jodi but it was so nice to spend the evening with Gene.

Blanket Time

When the kids were little we had lots of "blanket time." Just to lay around together under the sky was always a wonderful thing. Why do I have so much less "blanket time" now?

There are so few distractions. . . no electricity, no electronics and no jobs that just need to be done. Dale and I drove just a few miles out to Moffitt and enjoyed nature. The leaves in the trees rustled, the birds chirped and sang. The clouds drifted by and the ducks and geese made an occasional appearance. We were out there for about two hours and watched the afternoon sun turn golden as the temperatures started to drop. Blanket time is a very good thing. I need to remember that!

Iowa Corn Maze

Aw, aren't Jay and Briana sweet strolling through the corn maze? Truthfully this shot was taken after they had been throwing corn at each other. It was pretty fun.

The sky was pretty. The weather was perfect and it seemed like a nice day to walk through a corn maze. I didn't care about finding the right stations or following the map. I was just enjoying an afternoon in the corn.

I expect that this sign is usually photographed with younger kids but since Jay and Briana are both well over six feet tall, I thought that they would look pretty cute at the sign too!

Dale did get a map and along with Jay and Briana was successful in getting all the possible check point punches. They each got a prize when they turned in their sheets; a dum dum sucker!

I did not wear the appropriate footwear for a corn maze. Flip flops were not a good idea but we started out at the farmers market and were headed to a football game when we got side tracked to the corn maze. Jay wore flip flops too so we were both in the need of a foot scrubbing. I enjoyed every moment. Soon we will not be able to wear flip flops and our feet will be plenty clean all winter long!

Friday Evening Surprises

Jay and Briana are visiting for the weekend and we found some unexpected events on Friday evening. We had planned to go to Mullets for dinner and walk across the bridge and around Principal park first to enjoy the gorgeous evening. We stumbled upon the "Run Like a Girl" 1k run. It started at 6 pm at Mullets and was expected to end about 6:15. Some ran, some walked, some sipped beverages while they ran but all seemed to be having fun while raising money for a good cause.

As we were at Mullets the bikes started arriving and we were able to listen to the live band and watch the beginning of this cyclocross bike race. I have never seen anything like it. It was a tough course mapped out with caution tape after dark and under the lights.

It was cooling off quickly but we did enjoy a stroll across the newest pedestrian bridge which has a very interesting design. Our only plan for the evening was to go to Mullets for dinner but we found lots of fun surprises along the way!

Fall Friday

I finished my work day at noon today and had a wonderful Fall afternoon. I met my friend, Brenda for lunch and it turned into an afternoon of exploring. We went to the High Life for lunch then to Grazianos Market. When Brenda asked for directions to Howell's, we decided to head out there right away. Billy goats, pumpkins, mums and a century old barn filled with dried flowers brightened our Fall Friday!

Prison Theater

Thursday evening I had a rare opportunity. A friend invited me to attend a production of "The Last Virgin in Jubilee County" at the Women's Prison in Mitchellville. My friend volunteers as the director and so much more as she works with the prisoners. I was very impressed with the production. The play was funny and touching. The program is impressive in so many ways including the amazing affect it has on the women who participate. I felt privileged to attend. I was also a bit uncertain since I have never been in a prison. I got my clear instructions; no blue jeans and bring just your car keys and driver's license. . . leave everything else in the car! I just wanted to be sure to follow all the rules and I must have done well enough because they did let me leave.

Afternoon Break

This was my knitting spot this afternoon and it was perfect! I had a meeting downtown that ended about an hour before I was going to meet Dale for an early dinner so I put my knitting project in the car this morning. It was a perfect day so I went to a favorite spot along the Des Moines River. There are stairs that lead down to the water north of the botanical center. I sat there a couple of times to watch rowing competitions but sitting alone and knitting there was a different experience. It was so quiet even though it's near the middle of the city. An occasional duck or goose would add to the sound of the water lapping against the rocks. It was a perfect place to wait for my dinner date.

Meeting Ellie

On Monday I got to visit a friend and meet her new baby girl. I dropped by after work and got to spend an hour cuddling and playing with Ellie while catching up with her mommy. She can coo so sweetly and snuggle so well that I almost didn't take time to snap a few photos. So fun to meet a new baby.

Mobius Cowl Knitting

I have been knitting lots lately and finished both of these projects while Ashley and Travis were visiting. I asked Ashley to help me photograph them and it turned into a mini photo shoot. It's crazy how much fun we have with that. We have done it since she was a little girl, most often with me behind the camera but now she spends much of her professional life behind a camera so it's fun for me to see her in action.

When I saw my first mobius scarf in a yarn shop I was very interested in learning to make one. Jill and I picked out this yarn and she helped me find some patterns. After several attempts I made this one by stitching a rectangle, making the mobius twist then sewing the ends together. When it gets cold, I want to double it around my neck so I decided to make another one a little longer and bulkier.

I love the red color and the bulky yarn in this one but I may have made it a bit too long. When it's really cold I can use it to cover my head and my neck. I knitted this one on circular needles making the mobius twist in the first row. I combined elements from a couple different patterns but it worked out well. It's so much fun to make these that I plan to shop for more bulky yarn and make one a little shorter than the red one.

Geocaching

Travis and Ashley brought Mowgli with them on their visit to Des Moines and the weather was gorgeous over the weekend. That was two good reasons to spend time outdoors. Along with some other activities, we did some geocaching. One day we were caching in the woods and another day in the city. We all have fun with it but Ashley and I quit looking long before the guys give up so we get time to walk or relax on a bench.

We got good exercise, ate plenty of good food and had time to just relax and hang out together also. It's always fun when they come to visit and the time goes so quickly.

Pocket Camera

Standing on the shores of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan Wisconsin my faithful little point and shoot camera failed me. The lens would not retract. It just gave me a failure message over and over. Of course I do have my "good camera," my SLR, but sometimes I just want to stick a little camera in my pocket. Saturday when we were about to head out for some fun, I said that I missed my little camera. Travis got on line, checked some prices and we headed to Best Buy. I knew I wanted a Cannon. Ashley helped me compare features and I made my decision quickly. The new one (shown on the left) is a bit bigger but it still fits well into my pocket. It costs less than half what I paid four years ago and has better capabilities and more features. I missed my little one but replacing is was fairly painless.

Thirty Year Old Recipe

It's pumpkin bread season and I have gotten a couple of requests from the kids. I got off work early today with enough time for a bike ride, coloring my hair and making pumpkin bread. The bike ride went well but when I went to grab my recipe it was not where it belongs. I almost panicked. I looked through other recipe spots and even a couple of cupboards. I checked my computer to see if I had typed the recipe or emailed it to anyone. No luck! I finally went back to the old recipe box and looked again. It was filed under cookies instead of breads! Silly mistake that cost me plenty of time. As I looked at the recipe that I printed myself when I was a teenager and realized it had been around for a long time and I should probably have a back up. Then I noticed the recipe box and mixing bowl were both from 1979. It's like I am baking in the seventies! I bet my mixing bowl could show up in an antique shop. I like my old stuff. It works just fine. The pumpkin bread smells good in the oven. We may be having pumpkin bread french toast for breakfast in the morning.

Wisconsin Photos

I take so many photos on vacation that it's hard to sort through all of them and decide what to post. I am probably posting too many this time but the sorting has been so time consuming. The top photo is a sunrise at Port Washington, Wisconsin. It was a wonderful little town busy with fisherman at sunrise, a wonderful cafe for breakfast, a glorious sunrise and a farmer's market. It was a great stop on our trip.

I love lighthouses and enjoy photographing them. I took many photos of lighthouses but love the crispness of the white against the blue sky. I must have missed the signage as I approached this one and may have been trespassing at the time, but I really did miss the sign.

We were lucky enough to be in Door County for two sunsets. The one above is in Sister Bay before a Swedish dinner at Al Johnson's. The next evening we were in Fish Creek for a fish boil and found that many people show up for the sunsets there. The light over Green Bay was wonderful both evenings. I love to catch sunrises and sunsets when I vacation near the water. It's one of my favorite things to photograph.

Minnesota Photos

Lake Superior and the North Shore of Minnesota are breathtaking. This is only my second trip there and I found some familiar spots and some new favorites. The maple trees inland were in glorious color. September is a great time to be there. I would love to go back to the North Shore again anytime!

We spent time in Duluth before and after we went to the North Shore. I do like Duluth; the waterfront, the ship traffic, the bridges and the food at Grandmas! Since we spent two nights, we got to eat at Grandma's twice. I am sure there other good places but since I get to Duluth so seldom, Grandma's got my vote. Below is the aerial bridge in Duluth. It was fun to explore the night light photography.

Vacation Food

When Dale and I travel, food is a part of the discovery. This trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota was no different. When we saw "World's Best Donuts" in Grand Marais on the North Shore we decided that it would be our first stop the next morning. There was quite a line out the door on a Thursday morning but it was well worth the wait. We carried our donuts to the shore, sat on a big rock and enjoyed the early morning sunlight over Lake Superior.

In Wisconsin I just had to have cheese curds. We had the best fried cheese curds ever at Bayside Tavern in Fish Creek. The next day when we were traveling across Wisconsin toward Minnesota we stumbled on this little dairy along the road and stopped for fresh cheese curds. There was a little lady wearing a hair net and bagging the curds behind the counter. They were squeaky fresh cheese curds and so yummy! My friend, Michele, grew up in Wisconsin and taught be about cheese curds. If they are fresh, they will squeak when you bite into them. These were so fresh that the squeaked against my teeth before the first bite! It was a delicious car lunch and so Wisconsin.

Door County fish boils are a tradition and quite a spectacle. It wasn't my favorite vacation meal but the production is impressive. It was fun evening. I also love the fudge shop and confectionery in Door County and those goodies lasted the entire trip. It was cool enough out that the fudge didn't even melt in the car. How perfect is that? We also bought honey crisp apples at a farmer's market in Port Washington that lasted most of the trip. They were a tasty treat when we got to the car each morning and saved us from the pathetic hotel breakfasts.

Frozen custard and ice cream always taste great in Wisconsin. In an effort to maintain one of my doctor's recommendations even while on vacation I worked hard to keep up my calcium intake while in the dairy state. Yes, we did eat our way through vacation. We were quite active hiking and walking but I am sure that I will have quite an adjustment to get back to healthy eating. Today when I go to the grocery store I will buy spinach, apples, broccoli and yogurt instead of cheese and ice cream I enjoyed on vacation. I better get to the gym today too!